It’s easy to forget with the election of our incoming president-elect that millions of people mobilized to fight for their rights long before Donald Trump announced his candidacy. One such movement is the Fight for $15 campaign comprised of a labor union-backed group of organizations fighting for a national $15 minimum wage. On Nov. 29, service industry workers and their allies took to the streets from coast to coast to demand a living wage, and these photos of Fight For $15 protests show why this movement isn’t going anywhere, even under a Trump administration.

Arguably more organized than the Occupy Wall Street movement, Fight for $15 activists planned and executed the National Day of Disruption, a series of protests around the country designed to make their voices heard. At the heart of these protests lies the desire for a working class unity that hasn’t been seen for quite some time. This unity would be predicated on the opinion that “white working class Trump voter” is a dangerous myth and that economic inequality affects all working class and poor Americans — both Democrat and Republican.

Below are some photos from Fight For $15 protests around the country that showcase the bravery and passion of those willing to speak up for their belief in a living wage.

A Moral Crusader Got Arrested In His Reverend’s Robes

Sam Barber II, known in North Carolina as the president of the state chapter of the NAACP and a leader in the state’s multi-faith “Moral Monday” movement, was arrested along with 22 other protesters in Durham, NC.

Sit-In Protesters Peacefully Arrested In New York City

With civil disobedience as the cornerstone of the National Day of Disruption, these NYC protesters peacefully accept their arrests because to many members of the new labor movement, getting arrested is worth it in their struggle for a living wage.

A Multi-Racial Coalition Of Activists

This photo expertly illustrates the multi-racial coalition of advocates who show that the fight for a living wage is far from single-issue activism.

Solidarity Across Employment Types

At the #FightFor15 protest in Tampa, FL, nurses and clergy members came out in solidarity with service workers.

Minnesotans Came Out In Droves

People of all ages in Minneapolis came out to support the fight for a living wage.

Fort Lauderdale Made Some Noise

Vuvuzela-wielding airport workers made a joyful noise alongside drummers as they protested for a $15 minimum wage and a union.

Chicago Participated Via Silent Protests

With protests planned in 340 American cities, the National Day of Disruption certainly disrupted the post-Thanksgiving consumer narrative, and hopefully sent an important message to the incoming administration: that the fight for $15 isn’t going anywhere.

Update (12/6/16): Since we published this post, the Emeryville, California City Council unanimously approved legislation that will require large retail employers to publish work schedules two weeks in advance, pay extra compensation for last-minute schedule changes and provide opportunities for part-time employees to work more hours before hiring another person. This is just the latest victory in the fight for stable work schedules. Citizens of another California city, San Jose, will vote on similar rules in the November 8th general election.

In the years since the financial crisis and the great recession, working people have increasingly faced a big challenge to being able to make ends meet and provide for their families: unstable work schedules. But a few years ago, working people began to effectively fight back against the trend of corporations assigning unpredictable schedules and unsustainable hours. To address the issue, in late 2014 community leaders, labor advocates and people who work for large chain retailers in San Francisco came together and enacted the first set of comprehensive and meaningful standards. Now 40,000 people who work in retail and restaurant establishments have stronger guarantees of a fair and consistent schedule.

Since that landmark victory, organizers and advocates have taken notice, launching legislative and corporate campaigns aimed at writing new rules to bring balance to our economy. Decision makers have taken note, and Attorneys General have launched investigations into abusive on-call schedules. As a result, many well-known retail chains have pledged to abandon the practice of insisting that employees keep their schedules open and lives on hold for shifts they may never be assigned to or paid for.

But on-call scheduling is only one part of a larger problem for a significant number of people who serve our food and ring up our purchases. A recent study by researchers at the University of California, Davis found nearly 40 percent of employees experience varying work hours. Without the ability to rely on a consistent schedule and regular hours from their employers, men and women have a difficult time budgeting and providing for their families. Raymunda Alfaro, who has worked at a Taco Bell restaurant in Washington, D.C., for more than three years, said, “most of the time I don’t have the same hours or the same day off. It is hard for me to plan childcare in advance and to know if I will work the same hours every week.”

Lawmakers in Seattle, at the urging of groups like Working Washington, took up this issue, unanimously passing legislation that will ensure predictable schedules for tens of thousands of people working in the city’s retail and food service industries. And last week, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his intention to pass legislation addressing this issue in the fast-food industry.

Given this progress, corporations and their lobbyists are stepping up their opposition, justifying their scheduling policies as what they need to maintain operational “flexibility.” This opposition has led policymakers in Washington, D.C., and Minneapolis to draw back from passing similar legislation. But even as these bills have been pushed to the side for 2016, legislative champions are laying the groundwork for a successful push in 2017.

As more retail chains end on-call scheduling, they’re proving that unfair scheduling practices are by no means necessary for these businesses to be successful. And despite what the Chamber of Commerce would like us to think, a majority of business leaders support predictive schedules measures.

For many people, the amount and regularity of hours they work can be just as important as the wages they earn. As more political leaders and companies hear the collective voices of working people uniting on what they need to sustain their families, we can expect to see more positive change. In the meantime, we must remember that just as these employers actively choose to implement erratic and unsustainable work policies, they can choose to end them as well.

A recent New York Timeseditorial claimed it is simply impossible for “good jobs” to equate to a “good life” for Americans. So a logical conclusion can be drawn, that “bad jobs” (or non-secure work) could ever equate to a “good life”.

Politicians routinely promise that, if elected, they will create more “good jobs,” which are understood to be jobs with solid wages, regular ours and, perhaps, generous employer-provided benefits. During this year’s Presidential Campaign, Hillary Clinton promised “the biggest investment in good-paying jobs since World War II” by a means of a misture of tough trade negotiations, investment in domestic manufacturing, infrastructure investment, research and development, regulatory relief for small business and a tax credit to subside apprenticeships. President-elect Trump proposed to protect American workers from competition with illegal immigrants, the offshoring of jobs by United States-based corporations and harmful practices by trading partners like China.

But far from the campaign stops and Capitol Hill, Americans are asking; shouldn’t we all be able to enjoy “good lives,” even if we have “bad jobs,” or those defined as insecure work… one’s with low wages, irregular hours and poor or no employer-provided benefits?

Well, according to an important new study from the International Labor Organization, which highlights smart policies that have been used to improve insecure work.

For most working people, these “non-standard” working arrangements have meant greater economic insecurity, including lower earnings, greater likelihood of unemployment, limited control over work hours, less predictable schedules, lower likelihood of union representation, greater occupational safety and health risk, and reduced access to on-the-job training and unemployment and retirement benefits.

The ILO study identifies policy choices that have made “non-standard” work less insecure, including the following:

Ensuring equal treatment for temp agency workers with regard to wages, working conditions and freedom of association, and protecting agency workers against discrimination;

Preventing abuse by setting limits on the use of temp agency work, casual work, on-call work or labor subcontracting, in certain circumstances;

Assigning joint liability for labor and employment obligations to lead firms in subcontracting networks and user firms in multiple-party arrangements;

Establishing minimum guaranteed hours for part-time, on-call and casual workers, and limiting the variability of working schedules;

Cracking down on misclassification of employees as independent contractors by, for example, establishing a presumption of an employment relationship or legally defining contracts for certain kinds of services as employment contracts;

Forming alliances between unions and other organizations, such as day labor worker centers, to address issues of concern to insecure workers;

Promoting fiscal and monetary policies that lead to full employment;

Making social protection programs more inclusive by lowering thresholds for hours, earnings, duration of employment and minimum contributions

Insecure work is not inevitable. Nor is the impossibility of a “good life”. Non-standard employment, including temporary work, part-time work, temporary agency work and other multi-party employment arrangements, disguised employment relationships and dependent self-employment, has become a contemporary feature of labor markets the world over. What is key is that the policies and regulations in place protecting non-standard workers detailed in the International Labor Organization study be an ongoing effort practiced consistently.

As Union Members you know… the “good life” does not have to be impossible.

The holidays are a wonderful time full of food, family get-togethers and traditions, but the holidays can also pose many safety concerns, so it’s best to be cautious. From lighting candles to hanging Christmas lights, there are plenty of safety hazards that can occur during the holidays. Let’s take a look at nine home safety tips for the holidays to keep you and your family safe.

1. Inspect LightsCarefully look at your holiday light strings every year, and be sure to throw away any cracked lamp holders, frayed cords or loose connections. When you replace bulbs, you need to unplug the lights and match the voltage and wattage to the original bulb.

2. Buy a Fresh TreeIf you buy a live Christmas tree for your home, try to purchase a fresh tree since they are more fire resistant. Always keep your tree watered, and keep open flames away from it.

3. Lights OutWhen you leave your house or go to sleep, make sure to turn off your holiday lights.

4. Timed LightsUse a certified CSA International outdoor timer to switch on and off your holiday lights. Your lights should be turned on after 7:00 p.m. to avoid the electricity “rush hour.”

5. Check for CertificationYour holiday lights, extension cords, spotlights, carbon monoxide alarms, gas appliances and electrical decorations should be certified by an accredited certification organization like CSA International, UL or ELT to make sure they comply with safety standards and performance. Look for the certification mark on the product package to ensure you are making a safe purchase.

6. Don’t Connect Extension CordsYou should never connect two or more extension cords together. Only use a single cord that is long enough to reach to the outlet you need without stretching.

7. Keep Electrical Connectors Off the GroundIf you are hanging lights outside, keep electrical connectors off the ground and away from metal gutters. Also use insulated tape or plastic clips to keep lights secure.

8. Choose the Right LadderMake sure you select the right ladder size for the job if you are putting up lights on your house. Check for a certification mark to make sure the ladder complies with safety standards.

9. Check Your FurnacePrevent CO hazards in your home by hiring a professional heating contractor to do a maintenance checkup of your furnace and ventilation system. You will want to clean or replace your furnace filter often during the winter months.

Like this:

The eight-year bromance between Barack Obama — who appointed the first chief technology officer for the US — and the tech industry is ending. Now what?

That’s the question the tech industry has been asking since a real-estate mogul turned reality star, with a spotty reputation with tech, was voted in as 45th president of the United States.

President Obama, a self-proclaimed geek and Trekkie, was the most tech-focused president in modern history, committing billions of dollars to support initiatives to spur tech innovation, improve education and encourage exploration and discovery. Unlike Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump said very little during the campaign about where he stands on most tech-related issues — though he did call for a boycott of Apple products over the company’s stance on privacy in its fight with the FBI

One thing is clear. Silicon Valley in general isn’t excited about the next four years. In July, 150 tech leaders, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and Vint Cerf, considered the “father of the Internet,” wrote an open letter calling a Trump presidency “a disaster for innovation.” Some in the industry, notably broadband service providers, criticized him for policies they believe would stifle investment in infrastructure.

The outlook is “beyond grim,” weighted down by fear that the industry and world would suffer from this election, the New York Times reported Thursday.

Ouch.

Since Trump, 70, didn’t say all that much about tech during the campaign (he did call out “the cyber” when talking about cybersecurity concerns during one debate), industry watchers are left reading whatever tea leaves they can find until the president-elect reveals more-definitive policies.

Given that the tech industry accounts for 12 percent of all jobs, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, and given Trump’s message about improving America’s economy and competitiveness, his technology policies will have a long-lasting impact.

“The onus is on him to convince us that what we have seen in the past, the erratic behavior that has been defining character of the campaign, is not what will lead policy and that we’ll see a more pragmatic approach,” said Evan Swarztrauber, communications director for the DC-based think tank TechFreedom.

Here’s what little we do know about Trump’s stand on some important tech issues.

Net Neutrality

Net neutrality became a relatively big deal in the 2008 election, but little was said during this election cycle about last year’s policy.

Net neutrality is the idea that all traffic on the internet should be treated equally. This means your broadband provider, which controls your access to the internet, can’t block or slow down the services or applications you use over the web.

That said, we do know Trump isn’t a fan of the FCC’s current regulations. In 2014, at the height of the debate to rewrite the rules around Net neutrality, he tweeted, “Obama’s attack on the internet is another top down power grab. Net neutrality is the Fairness Doctrine. Will target conservative media.”

It’s possible that an FCC led by Republicans could eliminate all or part of the rules and strip the FCC of some of its authority. If that happens, broadband providers could create so-called fast lanes and charge internet companies, like Netflix, different rates to deliver their services.

Loosening regulations around telecom will likely benefit broadband and wireless carriers. The NCTA, the Internet and Television Association, which lobbies for the cable industry, said it’s eager to work with President-elect Trump.

“We look forward to participating in a constructive and robust discussion about policies that will continue to make America a global technology and entertainment leader,” they said in a statement Wednesday.

Industry Consolidation and Broadband

Trump also seems to have taken a populist view against mergers and acquisitions. That could spell trouble for big pending mergers, including AT&T’s $85 billion takeover of entertainment giant Time Warner. When that deal was announced last month, Trump vowed to block the merger if he was elected.

“As an example of the power structure I’m fighting, AT&T is buying Time Warner and thus CNN, a deal we will not approve in my administration because it’s too much concentration of power in the hands of too few,” he said.

AT&T’s executives still like their chances of getting the deal approved by the US, pointing to statements Trump made in his victory speech about investing in “infrastructure.”

“His policies and his discussions about infrastructure investment, economic development and American innovation all fit right in with AT&T’s goals,” Chief Financial Officer John J. Stephens said Wednesday. “We’ve been the leading investor in this country for more than five years running, and our Time Warner transaction is all about innovation and economic development, consumer choice, and investment in infrastructure with regard to providing a great 5G mobile broadband experience.”

Encryption and Cybersecurity

The president-elect has made only vague statements about privacy and security, and downplayed Russia’s alleged hacking into the Democratic National Committee and Clinton’s campaign email servers. Still, when the Justice Department tussled with Apple over unlocking the iPhone of the terrorist suspect in the San Bernardino shooting, he called for a boycott of Apple products.

What he has said about cyber security is that there should be a review of US cyber defenses by a “Cyber Review Team.” He also told the The New York Times in July that “certainly cyber has to be in our thought process, very strongly in our thought process… Inconceivable the power of cyber… you can make countries nonfunctioning with a strong use of cyber.”

Tax Policy

The biggest boost to the tech industry could come from Trump’s plans to lower corporate tax rates to encourage companies to invest their money in the US.

There’s a good chance that money could be invested in the US, said Rob Atkinson, president of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF). But it’s not a given. In 2004, the US allowed American companies to bring in the profit they’d earned overseas in the hope they would hire more workers. Most of the money went to executives and shareholders, instead.

Trump has also called for high import taxes on products, which could drive up prices for consumers on tech goods. In January, Trump said in a stump speech, “We’re going to get Apple to build their damn computers and things in this country instead of in other countries.”

Apple, which declined to comment on Trump’s statements at the time, designs its products at its Silicon Valley headquarters, but uses a Chinese contractor to build them. If Apple products were manufactured in the US, the price of an iPhone could rise to as much as $900 to offset worker wages versus the $650 cost of an iPhone today.

Many people have heard about cloud storage but they don’t really know what it is and how they can use it. Not everybody has a background in IT that’s why it is completely understandable why the notion of sending your files to some cloud storage company is a bit daunting. However, using cloud storage has a lot advantages that you just cannot replicate with an external hard drive, for example.

Let’s have a look at what you can do with cloud storage and why you might need it:

1. Cloud storage frees you from external hard drives

One of the best things about storing your data in the cloud is that it is accessible anywhere you go and where you have an internet connection (even in most developing countries that’s not a problem anymore). There is no need to carry and external hard drive around with you that a) could be stolen, b) could be lost or c) could break in any manner possible. With cloud storage getting your files is as easy as opening a web browser.

2. Sync your files across multiple devices

The best cloud storage solutions allow you to synchronize your files across your laptop, desktop and mobile device. What does syncing mean? Well, say you work on an important document at the office but you cannot finish it on time. If you save that presentation in your cloud storage folder it will be copied automatically to your mobile device and laptop so that you can finish it while commuting or at home.

3. Share & Collaborate

If you’re using a cloud storage solution for your files you can easily share files with your friends, family and colleagues. Just think about this: you’re on vacation with your children and spouse and you want to show your mother your beach house. Of course, you could upload your photos to Facebook but what if your parents don’t use Facebook? Just send them an email to a folder of your cloud storage solution and they can open it right away. Forget large email attachments that never arrive!

If you’re working remotely you can use those shared folders to collaborate with your team mates. Some solutions even allow to give special access rights to those folders.

4. Save cost

In many cases you can save quite a few bucks if you sign up for a cloud storage solution. Most of the time you will end up paying less than with external hard drives – also, your files are automatically backed up – not so on your external hard drive.

Automatic back-up of files recently became critical for one of our clients; JATC Union Local 351. They had experienced a ransomware attack that blocked their access to all files. With a cloud storage solution in place we were able to recover all files that were automatically backed up prior to the attack.

5. Security

Many people are afraid about their files not being private. And rightfully so. Cyber Crime is on the rise and nobody is immune. In fact; 99% of computer users are vulnerable to cyber attacks simply as a result of everyday-software installed on your device(s).

Now one could argue if you don’t have anything to hide it doesn’t matter – but again, we are not just talking about celebrities and the possible hacking of their private photos. We are talking about the vulnerability of your sensitive data, your social security number, banking and credit card information, passwords and more. Luckily, many cloud storage solutions have proper file encryption technology in place to protect your files from Cyber Criminals and third parties such as the NSA.

Membership meetings are not simply places for members to get information and cast votes. Meetings should give members a sense of power by bringing them together. They can see and feel that they are not alone, that others have similar problems, and that others have found solutions. Meetings should give members the opportunity to observe leaders and potential leaders in action. They can learn from each other, combine ideas, and build something bigger.

If this doesn’t sound like a union meeting you’ve ever been to, it’s because many locals are unknowingly stuck in traditions that almost guarantee that a first-time attendee will not come back, and only the most faithful will persevere.

Although many officers fret about low attendance levels, it is not necessary for democracy that all or most members attend membership meetings. Except at contract time and for other special events, most locals will see only a relatively small, dedicated minority at monthly meetings. Meetings, especially on a regular basis, are not for everyone.

But union meetings can be the chief organizing vehicle for that portion of the membership that takes union work most seriously – the activists. Coming to the monthly meeting is often one of the first things that a member tries when he’s seeking to be more involved. It’s important not to turn them off!

That means that the success of a meeting is not measured simply by the number attending, but by how that meeting contributes to the control, involvement, activism, and self-confidence of all the members, both those present and those not. What “comes out of” the meeting—the plans made, assignments taken, feedback received—are more important than the meeting itself.

Perk Up The Agenda

To improve meetings and boost attendance, start by doing away with the standard meeting announcement that sets out the same uninformative agenda month after month:

President’s Report

Committee Reports

Old Business

New Business

Adjourn (wake up)

Tell members instead what will actually come up at the meeting. Make sure they know how to propose agenda points covering their concerns. Distribute proposed motions in advance.

Put important and controversial items on the agenda. Discuss issues that will directly affect work situations. Have votes on policy questions where the vote really makes a difference.

Get rid of the boring reports. Print them out and distribute them in advance. Do them in multiple languages if appropriate, so members can come to meetings prepared.

Once we get over thinking that every member should attend regularly, then we can specialize some meetings. Plan each meeting to focus on a different section of the membership. Invite a few of those members to make a presentation on specific problems they’re facing.

Advertise that the January meeting, for example, will take up the question of repetitive strain injuries in the wrapping department, and recruit shop floor leaders and RSI victims to give presentations. February will focus on the problem of a particular supervisor in inspection. Treated this way, soon members will be clamoring to get their points on the agenda.

Another possibility is to move the location of the meetings around to make them more convenient to different segments of the membership.

Get People Talking

Use some imagination. Bring in outside speakers for brief talks and discussion. Use video clips. Give people—especially volunteers—recognition for what they have accomplished for the union.

Break down into small groups on occasion to get more people participating. Have members do skits or role-playing to deal with challenges facing the union.

For example, management wants to bring in summer temporaries. Some members are pleased because their kids can get the jobs; others want to make management stick to the contractual hiring procedures. Most of the people at the meeting, because they think about the contract more than other members do, are in the latter camp.

Rather than just discussing how to make management toe the line, get two members to come up front, play the roles of union members with different viewpoints, and argue it out. Use the insights gained to plan a strategy.

Always have a point on the agenda called “members’ concerns,” where anyone can raise a problem or question without necessarily making a motion. In this portion the officers listen, make notes, and after the meeting see that some action or investigation begins. Not only do they report back to the person who has brought the concern, they also report back to the next union meeting.

Be Welcoming

Make sure several people are assigned to help any new members or first-timers understand the meeting procedures and help them accomplish what they came to the meeting for. Sit with them and explain what is going on. If a person uses procedure incorrectly, figure out his intent and help him through it.

The chairperson should go out of her way to make the newcomers comfortable, give them recognition when possible, and draw them further into participation.

Invite spouses to the meetings as full participants (except for voting). Have good quality childcare so that the kids look forward to the meeting as well as the adults.

One technique we do not recommend is door prizes or lottery tickets to boost meeting attendance. It cheapens the purpose of the meeting and stresses seeing things in terms of “what’s in it for me individually” rather than coming together to help all of us.

On the other hand, Teamsters Local 174 in Seattle used a financial incentive to break the ice with new part-time UPS workers. Those who came to an introductory meeting were refunded their initiation fee. Union leaders thought the one-time appeal to self-interest was worth it, to make sure some of these young, high-turnover workers learned firsthand about the local’s philosophy and how to get to the union hall.

Don’t Stop Here…

At the end of the meeting it is sometimes useful to have a brief point on evaluation—what could be improved? Keep the meetings short so they don’t dribble to a close as people drift out; leave time for informal discussion and socializing afterward.

Remember that the meeting is only one piece of the union’s life; most members relate to the union outside of meetings. If the union meeting in essence consists of the various levels of leaders—elected people and rank and file activists—then the next job is to figure out how to provide two-way information between the leaders who come to meetings and the bulk of the members in the workplace. A strong and democratic union exists primarily as a force in the workplace, not at the union hall.

That’s why every meeting should be an action meeting that leads to some other activity. Members and leaders should take assignments at the meeting, and these should be summed up at the end: “The president will check into x and report back to y body. John has volunteered to help the education committee put out a leaflet on xyz problem by x date. Everyone here in the abc department will take the group grievances and get them signed.”

Assignments should lead the work of the union back into the workplace where more members can be involved, not just to the next union meeting or committee meeting.